Starting Out in the Evening (2007)
81%RT Audience Score: 70%
Awards & Nominations: 3 wins & 11 nominations
Starting Out in the Evening features sharp dialogue and moving performances from the talented Frank Langella and Lili Taylor
Starting Out in the Evening is a movie that makes you feel like you’re watching a slow-motion car crash, but in a good way. Frank Langella’s performance is like a warm blanket on a cold day, and the film’s exploration of the creative process is both fascinating and relatable. It’s a love letter to writers and the struggles they face, and it’s a reminder that sometimes the most thrilling moments in life are the quiet ones. Plus, Langella’s hands deserve their own Oscar.
Production Company(ies)
Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions,
Distributor
Roadside Attractions
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, language and brief nudity
Year of Release
2007
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 50m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Nov 23, 2007 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 22, 2008
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starting out in the evening, Frank Langella, Lauren Ambrose, Lili Taylor, Adrian Lester, Andrew Wagner, Nancy Israel, Fred Parnes, Gary Winick, Jake Abraham, Fred Parnes, Drama, PG-13, $902.1K, reviewed by David Fear, Jonathan F Richards, Connie Ogle, Marc Savlov, Bill Goodykoontz, Philip Marchand, Debbie Lynn Elias, Dorothy Woodend, James Wegg, Tony Macklin, Wesley Lovell, Bruce Bennett, aging novelist, graduate student, master’s thesis, University of Chicago Press, heart attack, mortality, selfishness, writers, solitary pursuit, family, children
Worldwide gross: $898,786
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,287,572
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,535
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 140,411
US/Canada gross: $898,786
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $1,287,572
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,124
US/Canada opening weekend: $76,214
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $109,182
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,903
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Lauren Ambrose – Heather Wolfe
Lili Taylor – Ariel Schiller
Adrian Lester – Casey Davis
Andrew Wagner – Director
Fred Parnes – Screenwriter
Director(s)
Andrew Wagner
Writer(s)
Fred Parnes, Andrew Wagner
Producer(s)
Nancy Israel, Fred Parnes, Andrew Wagner, Gary Winick, Jake Abraham
Film Festivals
Sundance
Awards & Nominations
3 wins & 11 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (100) | Top Critics (43) | Fresh (87) | Rotten (13)
November 17, 2011 | Rating: 2/5
David Fear
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
Starting Out in the Evening is thrilling in a way that a movie larded with car chases and explosions can seldom be, because of the way it deals with that basic building block of civilization, the creative process.
February 24, 2008
Jonathan F. Richards
Film.com
TOP CRITIC
Langella’s nuanced performance saves the film; the actor has an understated but powerful role, and he takes full advantage.
February 8, 2008 | Rating: 2.5/4
Connie Ogle
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
Wagner’s film is an elegy of sorts for that once-mighty beast known as the New York Writer, a creature that now finds itself increasingly marginalized in a world in which readers are getting scarcer and shelf space for serious fiction is dwindling daily.
February 8, 2008 | Rating: 3/5
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
It’s Langella’s performance that anchors the film.
February 7, 2008 | Rating: 3.5/5
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic
TOP CRITIC
What to do with this light, while it lasts? [Director] Wagner’s problem is to find an answer to that question and also to offer some resolution to the conflicts of honesty and compromise the movie portrays.
January 18, 2008 | Rating: 2.5/4
Philip Marchand
Toronto Star
TOP CRITIC
Grace. Sophistication. Intelligence. Heart. We should all be so fortunate to be Starting Out In The Evening of our own lives.
November 15, 2019
Debbie Lynn Elias
Behind The Lens
For all its sturm and drang, there is an elegiac quality about the film, maybe because fewer and fewer people apparently care very much about writing or writers.
August 22, 2017
Dorothy Woodend
The Tyee (British Columbia)
ut when all is finally revealed it’s gesture—especially the hands—that lifts this film into the ranks of extraordinary and … bears repeated viewings to savour the subtlety and intimate sense of self.
July 23, 2009 | Rating: 5/5
James Wegg
JWR
Starting Out in the Evening has a formidable performance by Frank Langella to recommend it.
February 2, 2009 | Rating: 2.5/5
Tony Macklin
Fayetteville Free Weekly
A bravura performance from Frank Langella blended into a lackluster story.
September 30, 2008 | Rating: 2.5/4
Wesley Lovell
Cinema Sight
Awkward and sometimes overly subtle, but compelling performances by a cast of normally supporting actors who make the most of their much deserved chance to carry a film.
July 19, 2008 | Rating: B
Bruce Bennett
Spectrum (St. George, Utah)…
Plot
Against the backdrop of Manhattan’s changing literary and publishing world, aging novelist Leonard Schiller is asked by Heather Wolfe, a graduate student and budding literary critic, to agree to interviews. He’s reluctant to spend the time: his health is failing and he wants to finish one more book. Also he’s worried about his daughter, Ariel, who’s approaching 40, underemployed, single and wanting a child. But he agrees, hoping Heather can help resurrect interest in his work. As Heather probes Frank’s writing and his past, Ariel reconnects to a former lover. Emotions can be raw and messy, and as relationships change, who gets the better part of the bargain?
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Starting Out in the Evening features a “marvelous performance” from Frank Langella, according to audience reviews.
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